


dragonsong

by alongthewatchtower



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Dragons, Gen, snippetfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-05
Updated: 2014-06-05
Packaged: 2018-02-03 12:43:04
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,961
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1745018
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alongthewatchtower/pseuds/alongthewatchtower
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hypatia hates being the youngest dragon in their patrol, Harry knows. But Hyp has her nestmates for support and guidance as she grows from juvenile to adult - Langley's leadership and Lucy's bad example and Zehavi's wisdom. Harry still doesn't know how to pronounce Nynniaw's name, and Hyp is no help, just says it doesn't matter in dragonspeak, so she never bothered to learn.</p><p>Dragonrider AU.</p>
            </blockquote>





	dragonsong

**Author's Note:**

> Self-indulgent dragon exposition snippet. Speech in italics is dragonspeech. 
> 
> As always, I blame [Lenora](http://www.tommotommlinson.tumblr.com), and [this dragon AU edit](http://tommotommlinson.tumblr.com/post/87791600289/au-dragon-riders). Maybe, one day, this will turn into actual fic.

 

Harry wakes up toasty warm.

He comes to consciousness slowly, drowsy and comfortable in the warmth of -

_oh **bugger**_.

They didn’t light a fire last night - they’re slightly over the divide, in the Badlands, and a fire isn’t safe, is a beacon to all the nasties they’re trying to keep  _away_  from civilisation.

Harry’s eyes snap open, and he rolls awkwardly into a crouch, bringing his head up to see the small fire blazing merrily two feet away from him. The cause of the flames is immediately obvious; Hypatia is snoring, smoke curling from her nostrils as she lies awkwardly on her back, wings splayed out to either side. She’s going to be so embarrassed when Harry wakes her up - she hates being the youngest, hates not really having control over her fire yet.

Harry sighs, and opens his mouth to Call to her, when a great dark blur appears out of nowhere, and he falls back on his arse with a yelp, startled.

One large, leathery wing is carefully smothering the small fire, putting it out in seconds. Zehavi’s wingspan is so immense she doesn’t even have to move from her position next to Hyp - she’s expending the least amount of effort necessary, but the fire is no match for her wings.

“Thanks,” Harry whispers, and feels very young in Zehavi’s ancient gaze. The dragon simply settles back down, black scales nearly invisible in the scant moonlight, curling her long tail around Hyp and tucking the younger dragon into her side.

Harry settles back into his bedroll. To the east, the sky is beginning to lighten, dawn not far away. If he’s lucky, he’ll get another hour or so of sleep before the others wake up.

*

Hyp wakes up when Zehavi does. Sometime during the night she’s curled into the older dragon, and when Zehavi moves, Hyp falls over with a thud. From somewhere on her other side, Nynniaw laughs. It doesn’t sound mean, but Hyp is embarrassed regardless, a feeling which grows when she sees the scorch marks a few feet in front of her. She’s still sleep-flaming then. Great.

Hyp huffs out a sigh, not bothering to move from where she’s sprawled on her side. Sometimes she thinks she’ll never grow up - how is she supposed to be a good bond for Harry when she doesn’t even have  _tail spines_  yet? Her scales are still  _mottled_ , for Caia’s sake, marking her as a juvenile, making her stick out like a sore thumb among the sleek, evenly coloured scales of her nestmates.

Out of nowhere, the soft underside of Zehavi’s massive tail cuffs her about the head, pulling her from her self-pity.

_“Heeeey,"_  Hyp says, narrowing her eyes. Zehavi just stares back, ancient and inscrutable.

Hyp rolls her eyes and gets to her feet, stretching out her wings. Harry pauses where he’s rummaging through his knapsack, giving her a bright smile.

“Morning gorgeous,” he says, and Hyp preens. It’s hard to wallow in self-pity when Harry's Heartsong is thrumming through their bond, bright and carefree.

_“Morning_ ,” she says.

*

Harry’s about 90% sure Niall is speaking to Nynniaw in code as he harnesses the dragon. Because he knows  _some_  Irish, and he’s pretty sure that the words coming out of Niall’s mouth aren’t English  _or_  Irish. Nynniaw is a Celtic Longwing, ice-white and the rarest of all breeds, sleek and streamlined in body and, as the name suggests, extremely wide of wing. Niall has known his dragon longer than any of them - he practically grew up in the pens in Ireland, working with his Da, and was there when “Nen" hatched. Niall was the first thing the dragon saw, the first voice Nen heard, and Niall felt the first notes of their song. That was that. They were made for each other.

Harry watches as Niall cocks his head to the side, obviously listening to something Nen is saying, before he laughs and says something back, rabbit-fast and unintelligible.

Yep, Harry thinks, laying out his own harness so Hyp can step into it. _Definitely_ code.

Across from Nen, Liam is having a Very Serious Conversation with Lucy about the way the scarlet dragon is currently picking at his teeth with a claw. It’s a habit that drives Liam nuts. Technically speaking it’s not really appropriate for polite company, and Harry thinks it’s kind of gross, but he’s pretty sure Lucy just does it to annoy Liam. The Welsh Nightmaw has made it his life’s mission to get Liam to lighten up, even a little. Last week he changed his name to ‘Luscious,’ and refused to answer Liam for a whole half an hour until he used the dragon's "new” name. It lasted all of two days, and then he changed it to Lazarus. A dragon is born with their name, so if Lucy really insists he’s changing his name, Liam just has to roll his eyes and deal with it. 

Lucy opens his mouth wide, showing Liam two rows of clean, gleaming teeth, and Liam huffs, throwing up his hands and returning to where he'd been dealing with his bedroll.

“Of course I know where we’re going,” Louis says crossly, laying out his harness.

The dragon standing before him tosses its head, golden frill catching the light. Langley is certainly one of the most stunning dragons Harry’s ever seen, with his scales that seem to change colour every time he moves. A vivid shade of purple with golden-tinged spikes on the end of his tail and frill, Langley can never be ignored. He’s quite shit at stealth, really, because you can always see him coming, but he’s fast enough that by the time you see him, you’re probably on fire.

“Oi!” Louis points at where the harness is laid out. “If you wouldn’t mind stepping into position, your highness?”

Langley huffs, waits a few moments, then slowly steps into the harness.

“Uppity git,” Louis mutters, throwing the guide rope from one side over Langley’s large back, before crossing to the other side and doing the same. He then waits impatiently at his dragon’s side. “If you wouldn’t mind?”

Langley snorts, small fireballs showing his amusement, and uses one massive paw to give Louis a leg up onto his back.

“I am  _not_  short!” Louis says, thumping the scales underneath where he’s crouched to fasten the harness. It’s a largely pointless gesture, seeing as an adult’s scales are harder than steel. “Bloody overgrown rodent.”

Louis makes quick work of the buckles, settling into the seat and stowing the guide rope. Harry notes that, as always, he doesn’t buckle himself in. He never does. If that was Harry, he’d be out of the seat the first time Hyp ducked suddenly to ride a thermal. As it is, Louis has the best seat of all of them, and he and Langley move well together.

Louis is their patrol leader, always in front and on point when they fly in formation. Langley is a temperamental Widefrill-Fireball mix, almost as large as Zehavi, the biggest of them all. Sometimes it seems like Louis and Langley don’t even  _like_  each other. Harry’s never met a dragon and rider pair who bicker as much as Louis and Langley seem to - at least, Louis seems to bicker, a rider can’t understand or Call a dragon other than their own, but occasionally when Louis is arguing with Langley, Hyp will snort in the way that means she’s laughing, so Harry figures Langley gives as good as he gets. Louis and Langley seem to do nothing  _but_  argue sometimes, but they’re also one of the most intuitive pairings he’s ever seen. When things get serious, Louis goes quiet and the two of them become almost eerily in sync.

Hyp is still small enough that Harry can scramble up onto her back himself when she's on her belly, climbing one leg and getting up into position, tightening everything off and looping his guide rope up out of the way, pulling his goggles down over his eyes. In front of him, Lucy ambles into position at Langley’s right shoulder, Liam sitting ramrod-straight with his feet in bloody  _stirrups_. Harry’s never met anyone else that rides with stirrups. Zayn is doing his best sleeping-on-dragonback impression (Harry’s still not a hundred percent sure it’s an impression - he’s seen Zehavi fly with her eyes closed before, and Zayn is no better), guide rope looped lazily around his hand as he holds onto the harness strap. Behind Harry, Nen shakes out his giant wings, and Harry feels the swoop of excitement in his belly as Hyp tenses, ready to leap.

_"To the sky,”_ Harry says, words only for Hyp, and she beats her wings once, twice -

\- and then they’re flying.

Flight is like nothing else in the world. It’s freedom, it’s endless possibility, it’s being completely and utterly in tune with another being. Harry loves the wind in his hair, the smell of the breeze, the feeling of Hyp beneath him and all around him, singing in his chest.

Most five-pair patrols fly in a V, but theirs takes to the sky in what’s known as “dragon” formation, which is probably the least creative title ever. They do take a dragon’s shape, though, with Louis and Langley out in front, the larger Zehavi and Lucy evenly spaced behind, Hyp dead centre just behind them, Nen bringing up the tail. 

Harry knows they fly in this particular formation because the others are protective of Hyp, can see how it rankles with her sometimes.

_“I’m not a baby,_ ” she tells him.  _“I know Louis thinks I am, but I’m not. I’m growing spines, see?”_

_“That lump is mud,”_ Harry says, picking it off her scales, speaking privately so the others can't hear. He knows Hyp is sensitive about this. _“Don’t rush growing up, Hyp.”_

_“Easy for you to say,”_  Hyp says sulkily,  _“you’re already taller than the rest of the boys,”_  but Harry knows by her body language and theirs that the others are reassuring her that she’ll grow in time. None of them ever had the pressure of bearing a rider assigned to an active patrol while they were still in adolescence. Hyp is the youngest dragon on patrol in recorded history, barely twenty years old.

Harry feels guilty sometimes - Hyp is technically too young to be assigned to a patrol. It’s really rare for a dragon to find a bond while they are still considered to be “young" - Nen chose Niall right out of the egg, but they’re a one-in-a-million pairing. Harry was lucky enough to get completely and utterly lost on the new recruit tour in the pens. He’d wandered into the juvenile area without realising, and had stopped dead at the sight of the most beautiful dragon he’d ever seen. Hyp was even smaller then, only the size of a small hut, and her scales were still a mottled grey, smooth and too young for her colours to come in, but her  _eyes_. Hyp had looked at him with her big green eyes, warm and bright, and Harry had just  _known._  He’d heard her melody in his own Song, a light, folksy counterpart to his own steady beat. Harry had experienced true Heartsong for the first time, and known they were made for each other.

They fly on into the sun for a good hour, leaving the darkness of the Badlands behind them as they make for a border village to stop in on their way home. It’s not on their usual route, but they’ve been asked to stop in anyway. Louis gives a low whistle, and as one, the dragons descend.

*

Harry waits with the dragons on the ground while Louis, Liam and Niall go off to explore and make nice with the locals and check on the village. Zehavi is circling lazily overhead, keeping watch. Harry hopes Zayn’s awake. Hyp has made herself as long as she possibly can, stretching out her tired muscles. Langley is sitting haughtily at attention, but the effect is negated by Lucy’s ungainly sprawl next to him.

It only takes a few minutes before the dragons and Harry attract an audience. There’s a bush a few metres to Harry’s left shaking somewhat suspiciously. 

The bush giggles.

“Gee,” Harry says loudly. “I wish I we had someone to talk to, Hyp. It’s awfully boring on this road.”

A blonde head pops out of the bush. “Who’s Hyp?”

“Shhh,” a voice hisses, and the blonde head disappears. Harry grins.

A few moments later, a blonde-haired, wide-eyed girl of about seven tumbles out of the bush. “Is Hyp your dragon?”

“Yep,” Harry says.

“She’s pretty,” the girl says.

A young boy, clearly a relative if the matching shock of blonde hair is any indication, emerges from cover. “How do you know it’s a girl?”

“Because  _she’s pretty_ ,” the girl says, rolling her eyes. Hyp preens. “Can I touch her?"

The boy is more skeptical. “Careful, she might burn you up!”

“Oh no,” Harry says. “She wouldn’t do that, would you, girl?”

Hyp shakes her head no, looking affronted.

“Wow,” the boy says. “She can understand you?”

“Dragons can understand anyone,” Harry says, keeping a watchful eye on the girl as she creeps closer. “But only a rider can understand their dragon.”

“Dragons  _talk_?” The little boy looks skeptical at that.

“Kind of,” Harry hedges. How to explain the Heartsong, the way he can Call his dragon from far away, and the bond between dragon and rider to a boy who can’t be any older than ten? “Hyp and I can talk to each other in our heads.”

“She’s so smooth.” The girl pats Hyp’s tail in wonder.

“Would you like to ride her?”

*

Hyp stays as still as she can while Harry lifts the little human onto her tail, arms and legs locked around it like a monkey, a few feet from the base where the muscles are the strongest.

“Ready?” Harry asks the little female, and gets an excited squeal in response. “Okay,” he says to Hyp. “Nice and easy.”

Hyp concentrates on lifting her tail gently from the ground, swaying it gently from side to side.

“There you go,” Harry says, and the female shrieks with delight.

"I'm flying!"

Harry steps back so that Hyp has more room. “We’ll make a dragon rider out of you yet," he says.

The smile in Harry's voice thrums through their song, happiness radiating along their bond and making Hyp warm. 

Harry lets the young ones trade off for rides on her tail until her muscles tire, at which point he gives them a hand up to her back and lets them slide down her tail. Hyp indulges him - making Harry happy makes her happy, and she won’t be able to do this forever. Her tail spines will grow one day, she hopes.

*

The others return and report the all clear, as expected, and Harry waves goodbye to his new friends as Hyp settles back into the air. The shrinking specks on the ground keep waving until they're so small he can't make out movement anymore. Harry thinks they're probably still waving even after the dragons rise above the thin clouds.

As they fly, Harry can feel the miles in his chest like a loosening of tension; the further they get from the Badlands, and the closer they get to home. Part of it, he knows, is Hyp, the freedom she feels in the air, the way her heart and their Song grows lighter the closer they get to the Mountain.

Dragons are powerful, wild and ancient and connected to the earth in a way that dark beings aren’t. Harry was never the best at magical theory, but he knows it has something to do with the strength of their aura, a force of light that has the power to repel dark forces. The strength of a dragon’s aura depends on a lot of things - the bond between dragon and rider, the dragon’s breed, the dragon’s connection to the world. It’s why Zehavi is the strongest of their patrol, because she’s literally  _centuries_ old. Zehavi and Zayn are a strange match. A dragon is only supposed to bond once, and it’s really rare for a dragon to survive the loss of a rider.

Hyp tells him that Zehavi is " _sad in her heart always, like an ache that never goes away_ ," with the kind of guilty look that means she’s not really supposed to tell him Zehavi had only been bonded a few days, over a hundred years ago, when she lost her first bond.  _“Zee says it took someone truly special for her heart to start singing again_ ,” Hyp says, unable to help herself from sharing everything she knows with Harry. Hyp’s not much for the mysterious, open and caring and so in love with the big wide world around her.

All of a sudden, the clouds before them part and they can see the Mountain in the distance.

The Mountain is a network of hollowed-out caves, open to the air on the outside with human-sized passageways hewn into the rock on the inside. For the last few years, the Mountain has been home. Some patrols keep separate quarters, but the ten of them live in the same cavernous space with a few human partitions sectioning off areas for privacy. Mostly they live the way they do on patrol - all over each other, shared clothes and warmth and laughter.

Niall whoops behind him, and Lucy ducks into a barrel roll ahead as Liam swears and Zehavi pulls in front of Langley, the younger dragon immediately responding to the challenge, racing to catch Zehavi's larger wings. Harry grins, the mood contagious as they come within sight of home.

Beneath him, Hyp  _sings_. 

**Author's Note:**

> If you liked le snippet, tell me what you think! Or say hi on [Tumblr](http://www.downintinpanalley.tumblr.com) :)


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